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The Invisible Hand of Fate
"The Invisible Hand of Fate" is the third episode in the third season of The Venture Bros. Plot After slipping in his bathroom and falling, Billy Quizboy recovers several lost memories. Billy is about to shout accusations at Pete White when White knocks Billy unconscious and phones Brock. A flashback story then begins, showing Billy on a game show called "Quizboys" hosted by Pete White. White wears makeup and a wig to hide his albinism. Billy writes down an incorrect answer but it is changed to the correct answer before his turn, thus winning him the game. The other contestant accuses Billy of cheating. In the dressing room after the game, White reveals that he had Billy's answer changed because "us freaks have to stick together". Pete White travels with Billy as Billy competes in a series of "underground" quiz challenges to finance a roadtrip to the Venture compound with the hopes of gaining employment as a scientist and a lab assistant. After being denied jobs, White enlists Billy in what they believe is another quiz contest but is actually a dog fight. Billy loses the fight along with an eye, a hand, and all of his previous winnings (since White had placed a bet on Billy). Brock Samson and Colonel Hunter Gather, two agents of OSI, have been tracking Billy Quizboy. They provide Billy with a robotic hand and eyeball in a plan to infiltrate the Guild of Calamitous Intent. A Professor Fantomos at "State University" is believed to be recruiting students into the Guild. Billy is enrolled in Fantomos' class and finds that most of his classmates have major deformities. Fantomos asks Billy to assist him with an experiment, because of an impressive essay Billy had turned in. Unbeknown to his professor, OSI had cheated for Billy and had Stephen Hawking write the paper for him. Fantomos is attempting to use a nuclear-powered machine to grow new limbs, as he was born without arms or legs and uses robotic appendages. The experiment goes awry and Billy's electronic eye is ripped from his head. Professor Fantomos' synthetic limbs become invisible and gain the power to kill through touch. As punishment for their failure, Colonel Gathers is transferred to Guam and Brock Samson is reassigned to be Dr. Venture's bodyguard. Billy's memory is wiped by OSI and Brock delivers Billy to a disheveled Pete White. The post-credits scene returns to the present as Billy awakens and angrily attacks Brock. Cultural references *When Pete White calls Brock on the phone, he identifies himself as "Casper" and informs "Goldilocks" that "Little Nemo has fallen out of bed". *A group of OSI agents strongly resemble the Village People, which Hunter remarks upon. *These agents compare Hunter and Brock to Wayland Flowers and his puppet named Madame. *Race Bannon from Jonny Quest is seen in the OSI building. *The OSI officer calls Brock "Sancho Panza" as an insult, telling him that his "windmill-chasing days are over". Connections to other episodes *Colonel Gathers makes several references to his desire for a sex-change operation, which happens in the episode "Assassinanny 911". He sarcastically proclaims "and I want to be born with big beautiful tits!" and dresses as a female cheerleader. *Professor Impossible's name is shown being removed from the door of the university's science department. Stephen Colbert, the voice of Professor Impossible, chose not to return to the show this season. *A young Doctor Girlfriend is a student of professor Fantomos. Production notes *This was the first episode produced for season three, even though it aired third. *The blackboard in Professor Fantomos's classroom has "V.B. S3" (V'enture '''B'ros. 'S'eason '''3) as a portion of an equation. *Master Billy Quizboy's last name is revealed to be "Wayland" in this episode. References The Invisible Hand of Fate